They're a type I've always liked. The definitive factory examples must be the Volvo P1800ES, the BMW 2000 Touring, and the Reliant Scimitar GTE. I'm sure I've seen magazine articles comparing those three as classics, and possibly as new. At a pinch the MGB GT could be included. I had a BMW 2002 during my student days, ti spec except for DCOEs instead of Solex PHHs, and my student budget never stretched to getting it entirely sorted. I'd have loved a 2000 Touring, but they were scarce even then, especially in my price range; though I'm told the Touring shell lacks the saloon's rigidity. Earlier, I had tried with even less success to get an Opel Manta A going, and a shooting brake on its basis was one of my daydreams. These days I can see a shooting brake in a hot rod idiom, a rakish, low-slung woody like a "Chain Gang" Frazer-Nash station wagon. I don't know what it is. Perhaps I can see myself in that response to the practical need for a compact hatchback? i.e. a hatchback with teeth — especially if severer than the above examples. This is a place for any other shooting brakes: obscure conversions, hot rod speculations, Photoshop exercises, etc. What have you got?
I had a 1968 P1800S I bought in 1970, only 23,000 miles. The long time Volvo owner had traded it in on a new E model. A year later, he traded the E in on an ES. I would have killed to have been able to afford one of those. In 1974 or so, with 3 friends driving Manta’s, I bought the station wagon version, thinking with the Volvo in the garage I need a more practical second car. Had they found a way to bend the Manta styling just a bit, that wagon would have been a great “shooting brake” as you envisioned. Just a bit of lowering, it would have handled nearly with the stock Manta.
Any insight into why they're called "shooting brakes"? RetroPower in the UK is building a custom Scimitar like you posted and several hatchbacks (like 2 Austin Allegros)
IIRC, the term comes from horse drawn carriages used for shooting sports. I've always assumed the term applied to any front engined rear wheel drive sports coupe or wagon with a sleek profile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_(carriage) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_brake Presumably the application of the term to cars had something to do with the "Quorn and Pytchley" associations.
Closest you can get with no real work involved is the early 1970s Ascona Voyager 4 door wagon with Manta front panels. I,ve had 4 Voyagers and one actually had a Manta nose and a straight 6 from a Opel Monza. One of those voyagers also had imitation wood side panels. Might have been a U.S. import.
I was wondering what the Manta shared it's floorpan with. Didn' t realise bits would interchange like that. The UK got the Vauxhall Magnum Sportshatch. Though they only made 197 of them, presumably using up 'droop snoot' Firenza nosecones. It's basically a Vauxhall HC Viva estate.
Maybe a bit off topic (can I be off topic in the off topic section?), but 20 years ago Chrysler built those long, low wagons with the hemi. They didn’t exactly fit the mold, especially for size and rear doors, but in the spirit. Probably more with the base engine and the hemi emblems added than real ones.
When I was playing with European cars I tried to trade one of my lancia scorpions for a beta hpe with no luck. I did own an 1800es for a bit, never really drove it I think it would be cool to make a shooting brake inspired canopy for my el Camino
For me it'll have to be this thing: https://www.carandclassic.com/magazine/have-you-ever-heard-of-the-intermeccanica-murena-429-gt/
This is a great thread, I love shooting brakes / tourings. I saw this gem at a carshow last year. I didn´t even know a 2002tii Alpina touring existed, although most of the people around here are hard headed BMW guys, having the BMW Dingolfing plant less than 10 miles from here.
I would call it a sporty hatchback. Nothing special. These were the first-response rescue cars in the 1970s at Zandvoort race track. Also for the Formula 1 at that time. Notice they have steel wheels.
I don’t know if the espada is considered a shooting brake but they are one of my favorite Lamborghinis
One traditional custom type I've always liked is the sectioned, unchopped shoebox Ford. I tried that treatment on a station wagon: Not chopped, but I did slim down the depth of the roof and tilt it back about 2½°.
I never knew about the interchangeability. Though we never got the Ascona A here, so it wouldn't have helped. We did get the Ascona B 4-door here, with Vauxhall engines and Chevrolet badges, including one with a Manta nose and Chevrolet 153, called the Chevair.
If I could have had one of those Ancona’s, especially with a straight six, I would have kept it a lot longer.
All the young kids were calling my 2010 Custom Camaro build from several years ago a "Shooting Brake". I had to look it up to see what it meant. Now I am just the cool old gray-haired guy with a shooting brake at some of the cruise gatherings.
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